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This award-winning text explores one of the most successful cultures and society the world has ever seen-capitalism. From capitalism's European roots more than 500 years ago to the present, this widely acclaimed text examines the problems caused by its expansion, inequality, environmental destruction, and social unrest. Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism provides the reader with the anthropological, economic, and historical framework to understand the origins of global problems, why globalization and the global expansion of the culture of capitalism has generated protest and resistance, and the steps necessary to solve global problems. Up-to-date information throughout the text helps students maintain a current view of the rapidity of global change. As one reviewer says, "In today's world of global cultures the key to solving the problems of the future depends on understanding the cultures of today. Robbins' book spells this out in clear and easy-to-read prose. It is the one book that every college student should be required to read."

Table of Contents

Each chapter ends with "Conclusion." I. THE CONSUMER, THE LABORER, THE CAPITALIST, AND THE NATION-STATE IN THE SOCIETY OF PERPETUAL GROWTH. Introduction to Part One: A Primer on Money. 1. Constructing the Consumer. Remaking Consumption. Marketing and Advertising. The Transformation of Institutions. The Transformation of Spiritual and Intellectual Values. The Reconfiguration of Space and Class. Kinderculture in America: The Child as Consumer. The Role of Children in Capitalism. The Social Construction of Childhood. Exporting the Consumer. 2. The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism. A Primer on the Economic Elements of Capitalism. The Baptism of Money. The Construction and Anatomy of the Working Class. Characteristics of the Working Class. The Growth of Overseas Assembly Plants. The Creation of Free Labor. The Segmentation of the Workforce. Control and Discipline. Resistance and Rebellion. 3. The Rise of the Merchant, Industrialist, and Capital Controller. The Era of the Global Trader. A Trader's Tour of the World in 1400. The Economic Rise of Europe and its Impact on Africa and the Americas. The Rise of the Trading Companies. The Era of the Industrialist. Textiles and the Rise of the Factory System. The Age of Imperialism. The Era of the Corporation, the Multilateral Institution, and the Capital Controller. The Rise of the Corporation. Bretton Woods and the World Debt. The Power of Capital Controllers. 4. The Nation-State in the Culture of Capitalism. The Origin and History of the State. The Evolution of the State. The History and Function of the Nation-State. Constructing the Nation-State. Creating the Other. Language, Bureaucracy, and Education. Violence and Genocide. The Future of the Nation-State. Transnationalism and Migration. Will Corporations Rule the World? Nongovernmental Organizations. II. THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF THE CULTURE OF CAPITALISM. Introduction to Part Two: A Primer on Market Externalities: Polanyi's Paradox. 5. The Problem of Population Growth. The Malthusians versus the Revisionists. The Case of India and China. The Issue of Carrying Capacity. The Ideology of Malthusian Concerns. Demographic Transition Theory. A Primer on the Determinants of Population Growth and Decline. Some Examples of Demographic Change. Population Growth in the Periphery. Wealth Flows Theory. The Social Implications of Wealth Flows Theory. The Question of Gender and Power. Problems and Prospects. 6. Hunger, Poverty, and Economic Development. The Evolution of Food Production: From the Neolithic to the Neocaloric. From Gathering and Hunting to the Neolithic. Capitalism and Agriculture. The Neocaloric and the Green Revolution. The Politics of Hunger. The Anatomy of Famine. The Anatomy of Endemic Hunger. Solutions to Poverty and Hunger. Economic Development. Foreign Aid: The Case of Russia. Targeting Vulnerable Populations: The Grameen Bank and Microcredit. 7. Environment and Consumption. The Case of Sugar. Sugar Origins and Production. Uses of Sugar. The Development of the Sugar Complex. The Expansion of Sugar Consumption. The Mass Consumption of Sugar. Modern Sugar. The Story of Beef. The Ascendancy of Beef. The Emergence of the American Beef Industry. Modern Beef. The Internationalization of the Hamburger. Environmentally Sustainable Cattle Raising. Exporting Pollution. 8. Disease. A Primer on How to Die of an Infectious Disease. The Relationships between Culture and Disease. Gathering and Hunting to Early Agriculture. "Graveyards of Mankind." Diseases of Environmental Change. AIDS and the Culture of Capitalism. How Did the Disease Spread? Who Gets Infected with AIDS? Who Gets Blamed? 9. Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Conflict. The Fate of Indigenous Peoples. Some Characteristics of Indigenous Peoples. The Process of Ethnocide. The Guarani: The Economics of Ethnocide. History and Background. Contemporary Development and Guarani Communities. Disadvantaged Majorities and their Revenge. Leveling Crowds. Genocide as an Externality of the Market. Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia. Genocide in Rwanda. III. RESISTANCE AND REBELLION. Introduction to Part Three: A Primer on "Terrorism." 10. Peasant Protest, Rebellion, and Resistance. Malaysia and the Weapons of the Weak. Malaysian Peasants and the Green Revolution. Fighting Back. Obstacles to Resistance. Protest and Change. Kikuyu and the Mau Mau Rebellion. The British in East Africa. The White Highlands. The Roots of the Rebellion. The Rebellion. "State of Emergency." The Oath and the Detention Camps. Independence. The Rebellion in Chiapas. Poverty and Inequality in Chiapas. The Rebellion and the Global Economy. The Revolt and the Reaction of the Mexican Government. The Future of Peasants. 11. Antisystemic Protest. Protest as Antisystemic: The Two World Revolutions. The Revolution of 1848. The Revolution of 1968. The Protests of Labor: Coal Miners in Nineteenth-Century Pennsylvania. The Coal Industry and the Worker's Life. Worker Resistance and Protest. Destroying Worker Resistance. Global Feminist Resistance. Gender Relations in the Culture of Capitalism. Strategies of Protest. Ecological Resistance Movements. Earthfirst! Chipko and the Tragedy of the Commons. 12. Religion and Antisystemic Protest. Indigenous Religious Movements as Protest. The Ghost Dance. The Cargo Cults. Zionism in South Africa. The Global Challenge of Antisystemic Religious Protest. Islamic Fundamentalism. Protestant Fundamentalism in North America. Terror in the Mind of God. Some Examples of Religious Violence. The Militants of Protestant Fundamentalism. Terror in the Holy Land. Armageddon in a Tokyo Subway. Understanding Religious Violence. 13. The Construction of the Citizen-Activist. What Are the Real Dangers? The GNP and the Construction of the Doctrine of Perpetual Growth. The Depletion of Natural Capital. The Depletion of Political Capital. The Depletion of Social Capital. Capital and Public Policy. Constructing the Citizen Activist. Indices and Goals for Well-being. The Means and Prospects for Change: Attaining Zero Economic Growth. Rebuilding and Maintaining Natural Capital. Restoring Political Capital. Rebuilding Social Capital. Conclusions. References. Index.